Weeknights at 11:00
by the-great-cabbage
Summary: Jaden Yuki and Jesse Anderson are just playing Duel Monsters late into the night when they learn some new things about their friendship.


"I'll have my Elemental Hero Avian attack you directly…and another win for me! Aha!" Jaden Yuki exclaimed, excited for yet another one of his many victories.

It was not such a lucky day for his friend, Jesse Anderson, though. "Aw man, I lost again! How many was that? Like six?" He leaned closer to his friend with a giant joking smile on his face. "Are you cheating or something?"

Jaden was taken aback. "No, nothing like that! What kind of duelist do you think I am? Nah, I'm just a regular guy that likes to duel…and is really good at it!" Jesse's smile started to fade. "But don't get me wrong, you did a great job yourself. You have some seriously sweet moves!" he said, trying to cheer his friend up while cleaning up his cards and the placemats they were using.

"Man," Jesse started to say, "I just love dueling you. It makes me want to improve and try new strategies. You give me so much energy. See here, even Ruby Carbunkle feels it," he said, pointing to the corner where his Ruby spirit and Jaden's Winged Kuriboh spirit were playing.

"Isn't this great though?" Jaden asked as he reached for the plastic bowl filled with snacks, stuffing his face full of pretzels.

"What is?"

It was a bit hard for Jesse to understand what his friend was saying since his mouth was so full of food. "Well, like youh and meh just sittin' here, sthayin up late, dueling eath other, thalkin' abouth trap cardths…" he swallowed, giving a small sigh. "You know, friend stuff…it's great."

There was a few seconds pause before Jesse responded. "Uh, yeah. Friends, right."

"You know what we need? More pretzels," Jaden stood up holding the almost empty bowl. "I'll be right back." And he started walking towards the table in their room which was covered with half-full bags of assorted snacks.

The trip to the table was cut short, though, as Jesse got up from the floor as well and pushed Jaden to the wall. Their bodies were so close now, that they could both feel each other's breath on their skin. He used one had to lift up Jaden's chin, so that they could see eye to eye, and kept the other one pressed against the wall. The next few moments seemed like an eternity; Jesse kept looking straight into Jaden's eyes, never wavering, with a different sort of look about him—a look of longing and intent. Before Jaden could figure out what was going on, his friend had already advanced on him, their lips touching.

In surprise, Jaden dropped the plastic bowl he was holding, but did not even notice such a trivial detail. He was so close to Jesse now. He could feel his pulse—his heart going _badump…badump…_He could also hear him breathing. At first it was staggered, but then they both started to breathe in the same rhythm. Now more relaxed Jaden closed his eyes, not knowing what else to do. His arms went limp at his sides as Jesse's mouth was still tenderly attached to his own.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Jesse pulled away. Reality finally came back to Jaden, who just stood there with a puzzled look on his face. "Um, Jesse…Why did you do that?" he asked.

Jesse had a pleased look on his face, as if he finally found something he had been looking ages for. "I kissed you," he started to say as he advanced closer to Jaden once again, "because I realized that I like you, Jaden."

A faint laugh managed to come out of Jaden's throat. "Well of course I like you too, man. Just as I love dueling, our friends, fried shrimp—"

"I'm not talking about that kind of like," Jesse said, kind of annoyed by Jaden's obliviousness. "I mean, I _like_ like you. I _want _you, Jaden. I want to kiss you, all the time. Like we just did a minute ago."

Jaden was beginning to feel nervous again, his heart pounding and words failing to come out in the right way. "I-I don't know about that. I just—"

But Jaden was never able to finish his sentence. Once again, Jesse was close to him, their lips pressed together. It would have been easy for Jaden to pull away, to tell his friend that it was only friendship that he was looking for, but that would have been a lie. He _liked_ this, he _liked_ Jesse. Figuring out what he should do with his hands this time, he wrapped them around Jesse's waist, tightening their embrace. Soon enough, Jesse opened his mouth up, inviting Jaden to explore—an invitation quickly received. This was such a new experience for Jaden, it was all about dueling and friendship before. Hell, he did not even know what a fiancé was until he came to Duel Academy. Relationships never really was his forte, but with Jesse, he felt that it could work.

Apparently, they were making a good bit of racket because Syrus started to wake up. "Ooops," Jesse whispered, "I forgot we had roommates."

Jaden gave a quiet chuckle. "Haha, yeah. Me too. Here comes the wrath of Syrus."

Their petit, blue-haired roommate looked less than pleased. "Get a room, you two," he managed to say while still mostly asleep, and then threw one of his pillows at the two of them.

"Aw, come off it, Sy," said Jaden. There was really no helping his old friend's anger, though. For weeks Syrus had been getting angry at him, and their friendship had been slowly drifting apart.

"I mean it, Jay. _Some _people need a good night sleep to pass that traps exam…tomorrow…" and as quickly as he woke up, Syrus had fallen asleep again.

"Don't mind him," Jaden said, his attention fully back on Jesse again. "He just gets like that sometimes." He moved closer to Jesse, ready for another kiss.

"You know what? I think he might have a point. It's late and I've gotta get up early in the morning for classes. How about one more duel and then we get some shut-eye?"

The sound of a duel excited Jaden, even after all of the night's previous events. "You're on!" he said, pulling out his deck and dueling mat once again.

"Maybe I'll win this time," Jesse said, his game-face smile back on his face, full of determination to beat his competitor.

"Haha, I seriously doubt that," Jaden said reverting back to his determined fighting spirit. They might be a little bit more than friends usually, but when it is time to duel, they are simply equal competitors with a passion for dueling.


End file.
